An absorption heat pump equipped with a boiler for reheating hot water is known from, for example, U.K. Patent No. 1519522.
As disclosed in U.K. Patent No. 1519522, the heat pump comprises: an evaporator for absorbing heat from an external source to evaporate a refrigerant; a compressor for pressurizing the refrigerant, the compressor being connected to the evaporator; a condenser for releasing the heat of the refrigerant to the exterior, the condenser being connected to the compressor; an expansion valve connected between the condenser and the evaporator; and a water supply tube for recovering the heat released to the exterior, the water supply tube being connected to the condenser.
A boiler for reheating hot water as necessary is provided to the water supply tube connected to the condenser. Hot water that has passed through the heat pump is heated by the boiler as necessary, and the heated hot water is used to heat a room or as a hot water source.
However, U.K. Patent 1519522 does not describe the relative positional relationship between devices when devices constituting a heat pump and devices including a boiler are placed inside a case. Additionally, the heat pump is a compression heat pump.
In view of the greater demand to conserve energy in heat pumps and the objective of reducing energy consumption, consideration is being given to the use of absorption heat pumps, in which the amount of energy consumed can be suppressed in comparison with compression heat pumps.